Abstract

Large numbers of migrants daily decide to undertake an often risky and protracted journey to leave their country, escaping from violence and poverty, in an effort to reach their ultimate goal: building a better life. Although extensive evidence shows how pre- and post-flight experiences can significantly threaten migrants’ wellbeing, little research investigates the impact of the flight itself and the way migrants cope with these flight experiences while ‘on the way’. The study took place in the waiting rooms of the police station near the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, where intercepted migrants stay for some time. Because of the constraints inherent in the study setting, we relied on the messages that migrants themselves chose to leave—in their mother tongues—on the police station’s walls and furniture. A discourse analysis of 179 inscriptions made by intercepted migrants revealed how these migrant communities show great solidarity, agency and resilience in dealing with their feelings and experiences in a political and social context that is marginalizing, depersonalizing or criminalizing them.